Title-Holder Outplayed In Boys’ Golf Championship

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30222, 29 August 1963, Page 20

Title-Holder Outplayed In Boys’ Golf Championship

Pre-tournament predictions somersaulted spectacularly when the qualifiers for the 1963 New Zealand boys’ golf championship battled against strong winds and driving rain at Shirley yesterday. The title-holder, M. W. Collins (Manor Park), fell in the second round; the joint top qualifier and winner of the 36-hole gross medal, P. V. Weber (Manawatu), was beaten in the morning.

The semi-finals this morning are between G. Clarke (Balciutha), who jointly headed the qualifiers, and J. A. Orr (Christchurch), conqueror of Collins; the 15-year-old T. Kendall (Manawatu*, the last North Islander, and D. R. Hope (Harewood), last year’s runner-up

The defeat of Collins by Orr was the biggest upset of the tournament. Collins, a confident player acomplished in all phases of the game, appeared likely to at least reach the final. But his confidence was shaken when Onplayed the first six holes in par figures—including a birdie at the first hole —to be five up. Collins won back a hole here and there but found the steady Orr and the rain too much for him. Orr finished the match on the fifteenth green

Orr preceded this splendid victory by being only two over scratch when his first round match against J. M. Lister (Highfield) ended at

the fourteenth. With his long game working well and his putting showing an improvement from the first day, Hope progressed easily to the semifinals, requiring only 29 holes to beat his two opponents. Three up at the turn in the afternoon against his fellow Harewood club player, B. C. Taylor, he had dropped only three strokes when the match finished at the fifteenth. Hope had only one birdie in this game, but it was a memorable one. At the long fourth his drive finished a foot from the fence. He chipped out and his third shot, a No. 2 iron, flew out on to the edge of the road skirting the course, kicked back across the fence and landed on the green. Hope calmly holed the putt for a birdie tour. Anti-Climax Clarke had fluctuating fortune in his first round match against G N. Cameron (Palmerston North). Achieving bogey figures at most holes he was 5 up at the turn. But Cameron, whose handicap is 12, played the 10 holes between the eighth and the seventeenth in two under scratch to whittle Clarke’s lead down to one hole. The match ended in anti-climax, the last three holes being halved. The sensation of the first round was the defeat of Weber by the North Otago player. A J. Palmer. Weber experienced trouble in finding the greens and missed some short putts at vital holes. Palmer was out in scratch figures to be two up, but after Weber had won back a hole he missed an 18in putt at the thirteenth to revert to two down. Another missed putt, this time from 2ft. at the fifteenth virtually ended his chances. Results were:— CHAMPIONSHIP

First Round.—A. J. Palmer (North Otago) beat P. V. Weber (Manawatu). 3 and 2; T. Kendall (Manawatu) beat N. Nankivell (Mornington). 1 up: B. C Taylor (Harewood) beat F. Hobbs (Amberley), 4 and 2; D. R Hope (Harewood) beat K. L. Rowlands (Waittkiri), 5 and 4: M. W. Collins (Manor Park) beat J R. Fellowes (Nelson). 4 and 2: J A. Orr (Christchurch), beat J. M. Lister (Highfield), 5 and 4; I. Beswarick (Highfield) beat G D. Jillett (New Judgeford). 1 up; G. Clarke (Balciutha) beat G. Cameron (Palmerston North), 1 up. Second Round.—Kendall beat Palmer. 1 up; Hope beat Taylor. 4 and 3; Orr beat Collins. 4 and 3; Clarke beat Beswarick. 4 and 3. MIRIMAR PLATE

First Round.—P. V. Weber beat N. Nankivell, 4 and 3; K. L. Rowlands beat F. Hobbs, 9 and 8; J. M. Lister beat J. R. Fellowes. 7 and 6; G. D. Jillett beat G. Cameron at the nineteenth.